May 10, 2025
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jennifer Dugan is an auto buy author for me so when I saw this new book with a beautiful cover I just had to read it. I went in with my expectations high and was not disappointed. This book had me experiencing every emotion every page turn; it kept me hooked till the end, not once did I put it down. It was a very cute, heartwarming romance story. I loved it!
— Thank you NetGalley for the arc! 🫶

After Birdie crashes her boyfriend’s car in front of thousands of viewers on her live-stream, she gets exiled to her dad’s summer house in Newport with no driving privileges, no social media, and no friends. Instead, her dad has hired his friend’s daughter, Cass, to play babysitter.

Cass would rather do anything else than have to spend her summer spending every day with the stuck-up, rich, social media influencer who chose brand deals and photo shoots over being her friend when they were kids. But despite their apprehension, feelings linger under the surface and their forced friendship in the shelter of hot summer days at the beach only makes all that much harder to ignore.

I’ll always be a sucker for a good YA romance, and the summer vibes were immaculate in this one; I felt thoroughly transported to Newport and its many adorable places.

I really enjoyed how relevant and realistic the characters’ lives felt in relation to today’s teenagers and the influence of social media without being overly “gen z” and cringey. A lot of fictional media fails at being relatable and accurate with depictions of teenagers, but this book balanced the accuracy very well.

It was an overall feel-good, enjoyable experience and represented young, queer relationships in a way that I greatly appreciated and would love to see more of in the YA genre in the future.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin for this e-ARC.

Author Jennifer Dugan has become an genuinely reliable storyteller. She has a formula - and I mean that in the best possible way - that she utilizes to incredible effect. With her novels, you know you're going to get a messy, sexy sapphic romance between compelling and complex female characters - and one that is nearly impossible to put down. Summer Girls is no exception and also touches on socioeconomic imbalance, gentrification and the perils of influencer life. Cass and Birdie both lovable yet frustrating in their stubbornness. The insular world of the beach town, where Townies are suspicious and wary of the "Summer Girls" (and guys) who invade each summer, making sure to insult the Townies at every turn, is spot on. Supporting characters are fun, fabulous and fully realized. Dugan has written another winner.

I really enjoyed this story! There is something about queer coming of age stories that always has me coming back for more.

Birdie is the rich girl being raised by a real estate developer and an influencer. She gets into some hot water when she wrecks her boyfriend's car while live streaming, so she is forced to spend the summer with her dad with no social media, no car, and her worst nightmare: a real job. Cass is the daughter of regular middle class people who are fighting the predatory real estate practices on their island, despite also working for them. Cass is forced to babysit Birdie for the summer to get the reference letter she needs from Birdie's dad, despite hating "Summer Girls." But of course, they can't help but fall for one another, despite coming from different worlds.

I think my biggest complaint here was about Birdie. I didn't really feel any empathy towards her. She really was just a spoiled rich girl who had never once thought about how privileged she was. And yes, her mother was awful and her dad was sitting by and letting it happen. But I will never feel bad for rich people. So I was very happy to see her character growth, especially when she got involved with the nonprofit helping families pay their bills. But Cass was right about her - she was a Summer Girl through and through.

I also feel like the storyline with her friends and family being queerphobic was not really resolved. Her mother and best friend were both weird when she came out, but then all of a sudden didn't have an issue when she started dating a girl? I mean I am happy that her best friend in particular was supportive, but I wish there had been a bigger moment out of that.

All that aside, this was a really fun read. I wish I had saved it for my upcoming beach trip, but I needed to get this review in. Also, I desperately want a sequel about Cass' best friend Bentley and Six! I need to see this summer from their POV

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group, for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Summer Girls are off-limits for Cass and her friends. This means any of the rich people who take over their island for the summer cannot be trusted or dated. Cass is volunteering with her dad at a coalition to fight back against the wealthy businessmen coming in and gentrifying their neighbourhood, displacing the locals and driving up the cost of living. Birdie is a summer girl. Her parents own a house on the island and her dad has been buying up properties left and right to turn a profit. She's been living a charmed life, featured prominently on her influencer mom's Instagram, and all set up to receive a trust fund and start her own line of purses. Then Birdie finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her and she crashes his very expensive car, all while live streaming. As punishment, she is sent to live on the island full-time and Cass (her dad's protégé) is her new babysitter. Birdie is forced to work the most unglamorous job as a parking lot attendant at the beach while Cass works as a lifeguard.
This is a very sweet sapphic summer romance that just lacks emotional depth. I wanted to allude to a romance in my description, but I honestly couldn't even think of how their attraction started. The most interesting part of this book was Birdie's experience as the daughter of an influencer. She's now a young adult, but the whole world saw her being potty trained. I will still be reading more Jennifer Dugan - I'm particularly interested in Playing for Keeps.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the eARC!

Thank you so much net galley and Jennifer Dugan for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.. I gave this book 3.75 stars

Birdie comes from wealth and privilege. Her father is a somewhat absent real estate developer. And she has grown up on social media thanks to her influencer mother. When she damages an expensive car her father decides as punishment she needs to stay at their beach home and have a summer job to learn responsibility. Cass would never dream of being friends with the girls that come to her small island home and stay weeks in their island mansions. But in addition to her job as a lifeguard she wants an internship with Birdie’s father. So when he asks Cass to supervise Birdie, making sure that she gets to work etc, she doesn’t feel she can say no.

I love the cover for this book and the premise is a good set up. Birdie is spoiled but she is also stressed at the life her mom choreographs for her. This is a sweet YA novel and is kissing only. The story goes quickly from opposite to romance. I would have liked their relationship to be more developed beyond, oh, you like girls too. The author gets around that a bit as they played together at the beach as children. Appropriate for teens and up.

Jennifer Dugan does it again!!! Summer Girls follows Birdie (our stereotypical rich girl) and Cass (the not so rich townie) during the summer Birdie gets exiled to her father’s summer home for crashing a very expensive car. It’s there she reunites with old childhood friend Cass. At first, it’s very easy to hate Birdie cause she seems way too spoiled for her own good but you’ll grow to love her and even hope for her happy ending. Both Cass and Birdie are really fleshed out characters and I just loved the enemies to lovers vibes of their story. The tension is great and it’s not a horrible slow burn. I appreciate the realness of this story too in regard to the gentrification of the summer town and how that affects both Cass and Birdie. When a story has great romance, character growth, and roots in reality, it’s a winner for me!

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan was such a sweet and unexpectedly emotional read for me. I wasn’t sure if I would be in the mood for YA but I really loved watching the two main characters, who come from completely different worlds, slowly grow to understand and care for each other over the course of one summer. Their relationship felt messy and real—full of mistakes, learning, and those small, meaningful moments that make a romance feel genuine. Birdie especially stood out to me; her growth, her struggles with family and social media, and the way she fought for love made me really root for her. I also appreciated how the book explored class differences and how those shaped the characters' lives and mindsets in subtle but powerful ways. It left me feeling hopeful, a little teary, and totally ready to recommend it as the perfect summer read for anyone who loves character-driven stories with heart.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley for access to the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Storygram Tours and Penguin Teen for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was honestly not what I was expecting it to be, but in a good way. Watching Birdie and Cass go from true enemies to lovers was amazing, and reading about Birdie growing and learning more about herself really had me emotional. There are a lot of issues mentioned in this book that really should be talked about more, including classism and gentrification, as well as using children for views, likes, and follows. I genuinely enjoyed having the dual POV in this book as well, it definitely added to the story getting both perspectives. Overall I definitely recommend this book to others!

Thank you to PRH Audio and Penguin Teen for giving me advanced reader copies of this book.
Cass has a rule, never date a summer girl. She’s known Birdie since they were kids, just like her audience. Birdie, a teen influencer has her life turned upside down after an incident while she was live to her followers. Cass is asked to help birdie live like a normal teenager for the summer, the last thing she wants to do. will she break her one rule?

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan is a fun-in-the-sun YA beach read. Two high school graduates from different worlds spend their last summer before college falling in love and learning some hard life lessons. One, a rich social media influencer named Birdie, gets a dose of reality. Cass, a hard-working, MIT-bound townie, learns a thing or two about making assumptions.
Birdie, as a social media influencer under the thumb of her controlling mother, was an interesting take that I hadn't read before. I enjoyed it. I could more personally relate to the beach-loving townie, Cass, with a distaste for tourists despite the community's reliance on tourist trade.
I liked both characters, especially Birdie's introspection and growth.
I agree with other reviewers: I would have liked to see more moments between the main characters cultivating their relationship on the page. The author did a great job depicting the seaside tourist town—I felt like I was there on the beach in the salty breeze.
I enjoy most of Dugan's YA novels for their formulaic expectations. They are somewhat predictable, including teen angst, sweet romance, and characters overcoming challenges to earn their happy ending. These novels delightfully fill a need. I will always pick up this author's stories. After a few heavy reads, this was a nice, relaxing book with a sweet love story.
#richgirl/poorgirl #oppositesattract #townie #summergirl #beach #surfing #touristtown #smalltown/bigcity #socialmediainfluencer #lifeguard #birep #thirdactbreakup #epilogue #HEA #YA #nospice #sweet

A cute summer YA but not ultimately very memorable. Good representation, but the plot does lean "young" and immature feeling.

3⭐

I love a good Sapphic YA summer romance and this opposites attract slow burn was so much fun!! Birdie is the daughter of a wealthy influencer mom who gets stuck with her former friend and local lifeguard, Cass. Together they realize they might have more in common than at first thought and slowly Birdie comes to embrace her bisexuality even though the pressures of her old life have kept her in the closet. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Becky Albertalli. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Oh Jennifer Dugan. Give me any young adult romance book by this author and I will absolutely devour it in one sitting. Her easy to read novels, paired with likeable characters and some eventful mishaps will give you all the feels. This perfect summer time novel (hence Summer Girls title) will leave you to never wanting summer to end and to wanting to find the person that lifts you up instead of tearing you down.

Cass, a summer time lifeguard, saving money for college in the fall and who does odd end jobs for her former friends wealthy father to help with college room and board, since her dad is pushing pennies. Summer's are filled with out of town rich people on their fancy yachts and who make Cass do whatever they ask of her.

Birdie, a daughter to a rich realtor and friend of Cass's father, has to get a summer job since she crashed her ex-boyfriend's fancy car while livestreaming. Birdie's father enlists the help of Cass (since she has her head on straight and isn't a spoiled brat like Birdie), but Cass is less than enthusiastic about her next job.

Cass basically getting paid to babysit Birdie, starts to get to know Birdie better than anyone ever has and ultimately will test her rules about not dating any Summer Girls.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel early.

Will Cass end up getting her heart broken since she isn't a rich girl or will Birdie end up realizing that social media and her mom's wishes aren't her main concerns anymore?

This book will leave you loving the character development of Birdie and ultimately be cheering for both of the girls to be in a healthy and happy relationship.

this was pretty solid!! i wished it had been a little more literary, but i've read dugan's books before so i wasn't necessarily expecting it.

birdie and cass both got over their dislike of each other really fast --- this is NOT enemies to lovers or even rivals to lovers, this is mild annoyance to lovers. i liked cass the most for sure, she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to talk about it.

i did think it was so funny that birdie's dad NEVER stops being an awful landlord. he tries to get a little better I GUESS but even birdie is like "yeah he's still screwing over poor neighborhoods." he still is bad then girl!! i wish we saw him like. actually get better. or at least be less of a huge force in cass & birdie's lives in the epilogue lol.

overall though the romantic moments in this are fun and well written and cass is the best ever <33

Jennifer Dugan’s “Summer Girls” is a YA summer romance that has all the fun of tourist/local in a seaside town trope. I loved the nuance of each of their coming out experiences and the way the way Cass gave Birdie grace and didn’t pressure her. I appreciated the acknowledgement of the gentrification of tourist beach towns and what the impact of that. I don’t know that I believe the harmonious friendship that George and Mr Adler had or how Birdie was able to reconcile the harm her father’s development company was doing. I found Birdie’s mother grating and over the top which I think might have been purposeful on the author’s part. This was a quick summer read and I so appreciate that we know have quick summer QUEER books!

Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan is a heartfelt and charming young adult romance that explores the rekindling of a long-lost friendship and the tender stirrings of love. Centered around two girls who were once inseparable until one suddenly disappeared from the other’s life, the novel captures the emotional weight of reunion, healing, and rediscovery during a pivotal summer.

Dugan’s narrative skillfully balances light-hearted romance with authentic emotional depth, making it both engaging and relatable. The characters are well-drawn and resonate with readers navigating the complexities of identity, relationships, and the sometimes messy path to growing up. Their journey reflects themes of forgiveness, vulnerability, and the courage it takes to open one’s heart again.

What stands out is the novel’s accessibility—not only to younger readers, but also to adults who remember what it’s like to fall in love for the first time or face unresolved emotions from the past. Summer Girls delivers a sense of hope and sweetness, wrapped in the warmth of a summer backdrop, making it a compelling read for anyone seeking a sincere and uplifting story of young love rediscovered.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Summer Girls is a very solid YA summer romance between two girls. It's easy to read, has good summer vibes, a great beach town setting, and talks about the impact that wealthy tourists can have on the regular townsfolk who live there year round. I thought Cass and Birdie were very age-appropriate in their characterization. And the age-old "rich person" falls in love with a "poorer person" trope is executed well too. I also appreciated Cass's concern around whether she was forcing Birdie out or not.

What I didn't like is how both Birdie and Cass obsess over the same conflict points internally instead of just talking to each other. Granted, I think most 17 to 18 year olds probably do this, but it grew grating to read. I also felt like Birdie sometimes was manipulative/passive aggressive towards Cass with Cass's feelings, and it gave me quite an icky feeling. And Birdie's mom is despicable. But sometimes it feels good to have a character that all readers can universally despise.

Overall I liked this book and would recommend it if you're looking for a good summer YA queer romance!

I love Jennifer Dugan’s books!
Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan was one of my most anticipated contemporary novel of the whole year and it didn't let me down!
I read this entire book in one day. And loved every single minute of it.
This was so adorable I absolutely could not stand it.
A fun, sweet and adorable sapphic YA romcom!

Thank You NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers & G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!